Treasured Memories

My child - as well as being special and wonderful and gifted and creative - is very much like every other child.

She hoards.

I should not be surprised by this. Her own mother has a hard time letting go to "stuff", her father was a collector extraordinaire, her maternal grandparents bring new meaning to the word and have several generations of historical relics on hand (or in the container or sheds) and I suppose we could count the blessings of war, family dysfunctionality and refugee status that her paternal family don't take part in displaying too much that is significant to the family travails (although they are typical of their culture in that every surface does have its own variety of clutter on display).

However, there comes a time when needs must means throw out!!! Yesterday was one of those times.

I am due to upgrade my computer, and the trade off that 'Salina is looking forward to is that she will receive this one. "Yay!!!" she says. And then groans follow when it is explained that this means LESS SPACE for crap in her room. As furniture changes will also be required, yesterday was the beginning of a long project.

She needed to clear several shelves in a cupboard to make room for clothes that were evacuated from one piece of furniture that has been slated for "out of the room".

During our going through the seven boxes reduced to two this means in real terms, we came across many things that she holds close to her heart. Old toys she has not played with of late, projects that were started and never quite finished - or never yet started, presents that were put by for "later" and artwork that is fantastic (says the unbiased mother) but not worth keeping for posterity.

We had the digital on hand to capture these significant structures before they got "donated to landfill" (or recycled - after all, most of the materials for them came from the recycle bin in the first place).

So I present you her gallery...

	The Dog Artfully wrapped boxes with inked features, this 3d canine representation was the joy of an afternoon late last year.
The Cat This milk carton and toilet paper desgin was inspired last week. If only the digital camera videos would translate to this computer, I could show you her inspired farewell scene to the creature.
	The Lion This creation was a pre-school project at school, which culminated in a musical presentation.
The Dogwash This installation piece has hoses for washing the dog, ramps and special pens for the customers, a shelf for holding instruments, cardboard cutout shampoos and a cloth for drying the dog with.
	The Horse This is one of many, many such creations. The saddle can be taken off, there was a bridle and the tail moves.

"But how could you allow her to part with such memories, you heartless mother," I hear you cry out.

Well, I have had to harden myself to such purges over my own life because I know the walls will eventually cave if you KEEP EVERYTHING.

And as well as the 7 shopping bags of rubbish, large collection to pass to cousins, box for a potential garage sale and 2 large boxes for recycling, a lot did get saved for her to look back on.

And we still have much, much more to go before we can declare this job FINISHED!